Newslinks for Tuesday 31st January 2017

Brexit 1) MPs begin debating bill

‘Today MPs begin debating the Bill which will give Theresa May the go-ahead to launch formal negotiations for Britain to leave the European Union. The Government has set aside two days for the second reading debate for the EU (Notification on Withdrawal) Bill – which will conclude with a vote on Wednesday evening. As many as 100 Labour MPs including more than half a dozen shadow ministers are set to join the Scottish National Party and vote against the Government’s EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill to start the process of leaving the EU.’ – Daily Telegraph

Brexit 2) Article 50 ‘to be triggered’ on 9 March

‘The government wants to pass the legislation allowing Article 50 to be triggered by the first week of March, giving Theresa May the option to initiate the Brexit process at a summit of European leaders. The prime minister has so far been determined not to reveal the precise date when she plans to invoke the formal two-year mechanism for leaving the EU, saying only that she will begin Brexit by the end of March. However, the government told the House of Lords yesterday that it wants the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill approved on March 7. All 28 heads of government from EU member states will meet on March 9 at the two-day European Council summit in Malta, giving Mrs May an opportunity to invoke the clause. On March 8 Philip Hammond, the chancellor, will present his first budget.’ – The Times (£)

Brexit 3) May in Ireland: ‘no return’ to hard border

Theresa May has said that there will be “no return to a hard border” in Ireland after Brexit, as she arrived in Dublin for talks with Enda Kenny, the Irish Taoiseach. There are fears that a “hard Brexit” could see border controls on movement and trade between the Republic and Northern Ireland, but Mrs May said that “an explicit objective of UK work on Brexit is that account is taken of the unique factors” with Ireland. She added: “’No return to a hard border’ is not just a phrase […] we need to find a solution for a seamless, frictionless border.” Earlier, Mrs May promised she would not use Britain’s departure from the EU as an excuse to stage a “land grab” of powers at the expense of the UK’s devolved governments.’ – FT

Trump 1) May knew of refugee ban ‘in advance’

‘Theresa May’s response to the growing outrage about Donald Trump’s travel ban is becoming more, not less difficult to understand as fresh details emerge about what she knew and when. The prime minister was at the end of a successful three-day trip to the US and Turkey when she refused to condemn the ban, a stance it took Downing Street almost 12 hours to correct. It was a stumble that looks set to overshadow a high-stakes diplomatic adventure. Asked about her leaden-footed response in Ankara, her spokesman claimed she had been “in meetings all day”… It emerged yesterday that Mr Trump had told the prime minister that he was about to ban refugees during their Friday meeting in the White House.’ – The Times (£)

Johnson is asked when Prime Minister knew – Patrick Kidd, The Times (£)

Tensions ‘inflamed’ over English-speaking countries’ dispensation from Trump – The Times (£)

Trump 2) Prime Minister ‘defends state visit decision’

‘Theresa May defended the decision to invite Donald Trump on a state visit as thousands of protesters took to the streets across the UK and more than 1.5 million people signed a petition to try to stop the trip from going ahead. The prime minister made the briefest of responses to the domestic uproar over the US president’s attempt to ban travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries, insisting that the “UK takes a different approach”. Addressing the issue during a joint press conference with the Irish taoiseach, Enda Kenny, May stood by the red carpet invitation she had made during her meeting with Trump in the White House on Friday.’ – Guardian

Trump 3) Johnson says comparing the President with Hitler ‘demeans the Holocaust’

‘Boris Johnson has urged opponents of Donald Trump to stop “pointlessly demonising” him after MPs compared the US President to Adolf Hitler. During a Commons debate over Mr Trump’s controversial immigration ban, Mr Johnson accused Labour of “demeaning the Holocaust” through constant references to the Nazis – including a reference to Theresa May as like Hitler’s appeaser Neville Chamberlain. His warning came on a day of confusion and continued protest at Mr Trump’s travel ban, which prevents natives of seven mainly Muslim countries from entering the USA.’ – Daily Telegraph

Trump 4) Owen Jones: Popular resistance is the only answer

‘After the events of the past few days it is clear that Donald Trump’s vision for America will not be restrained by Theresa May. On Friday they talked and held hands. Hours later Trump ushered in his fascistic, so-called Muslim travel ban with a stroke of his executive pen. Neither does hope for the future lie with the more critical Angela Merkel, nor so-called moderate Republicans, nor indeed the US Democratic establishment. If Trumpism is to fail in its mission to remake the United States in its own image, it will require an extraordinary movement of popular resistance both at home and abroad.’ – Guardian

Select Committee deems asylum-seeker housing ‘disgraceful’

‘Asylum-seekers have been placed in accommodation with infestations of mice, rats and bedbugs after arriving in Britain, a Commons report has found. In an inquiry by the influential Home Affairs Select Committee in Westminster, MPs delivered a scathing critique of the system for housing those who apply for refugee in the UK. The committee’s chair Yvette Cooper described some of the conditions as a “disgrace”. One woman complained that her kitchen was “full of mice”, saying: “They even ran across the dining table while we were eating.” Another client, who was forced to live with vermin infestations, said the noise of rats triggered flashbacks as he shared a cell with rats when he was detained and tortured in his country of origin.’ – Independent

Government ‘to publish’ Heathrow plans this week

‘The government will push ahead with plans for a third runway at Heathrow this week after the High Court temporarily blocked a major legal challenge to the airport’s expansion. Ministers are expected to publish proposals for a dramatic increase in flights from the west London hub within days in a move that will kick-start a year-long parliamentary process. The national policy statement, drawn up by the Department for Transport, will set out the impact that the 3,500m runway will have on the community as well as the tough planning conditions attached to the plans.’ – The Times (£)

Look after your parents, says health minister

‘People have just as much of a duty to look after their elderly parents as they do to care for their own children, a health minister has said. David Mowat made the comments alongside an admission that the government had no “final answer” on how it was going to cope with the rising costs of social care. Speaking to the House of Commons’ select committee on communities and local government, the minister said that tackling the care crisis involved “interwoven issues” including the question of how society deals with the care of ageing parents.’ – Guardian

Daniel Capurro: The sad proof that Canada is divided, too

‘With all the uproar surrounding Donald Trump’s travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority nations, it might come as a shock to many that Canada, one of the few Western nations willing to accept thousands of Syrian refugees – and apparently very happily – would suffer a terrorist attack. Even more so that it was one targeting the country’s Muslim population. Yet the cheery, sometimes fawning coverage from abroad of Justin Trudeau’s first year as prime minister masks two truths about Canada that mark it out as not that different from the rest of the western world.’ – Daily Telegraph

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